STOCKS NEWS US-Osiris down after news on lung drug

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1047 ET 24June2009-Osiris down after news on lung drug
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Shares of Osiris Therapeutics Inc (OSIR.O) fell on
Wednesday, a day after the company's experimental adult stem
cell treatment failed to improve lung function in patients with
chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).

The drug didn't show a significant improvement in lung
function as compared to a dummy drug in a mid-stage trial with
COPD patients. It is also currently being tested in three
late-stage studies in Crohns disease and graft versus host
disease.

For details, see [ID:nBNG271265]

Shares dropped 8 percent to $12.82.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1045 ET 24June2009-Citi Sept $4 call options grab attention
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Citigroup (C.N) shares rose 5 cents to $3.06 and some
ambitious traders are focused on the September $4 calls, making
them one of the busiest equity options contract in the first
hour of trade, according to Trade Alert. The out-of-the-money
strike attracted volume of 39,212 contracts against open
interest of 500,671, Reuters data show.

During the first 15 minutes of the session, 16,600
contracts traded in that strike and three quarters of that
volume hit ask-side of the bid-ask spread, said
WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. Across all
strikes, about 99,000 calls traded, more than half the number
of put options, Trade Alert data show.

The stock's option implied volatility has been steady this
week, between 115 and 120 percent, below its 52-week high of
329 percent.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1005 ET 24June2009-May home sales slip to 342,000 pace
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Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes slipped
slightly in May, according to Commerce Department data on
Wednesday that underscored that conditions in the hard-hit
housing market remain fragile.

The annual sales pace of 342,000 was a 0.6 percent decline
from April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales
would notch a 360,000 rate. The most recent data also remained
far below the 509,000 annualized pace of May 2008.

But the median sales price rose to $221,600 from $212,600
in April and was the highest since December, when it was
$229,600. The median marks the half-way point, with half of all
houses sold above that level and half below.

The Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction index .DJUSHB rose
2.8 percent to 212.19 after the data was released.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0950 ET 24June2009-Atlas Pipeline rises after upgrade
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Shares of Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (APL.N) rallied on
Wednesday, after Barclays Capital upgraded the stock to "equal
weight," citing a higher commodity price deck.

The firm also doubled its price target on the stock,
raising it to $8.

The firm raised its crude oil price assumption to $58 a
barrel from $48 for 2009, and wrote that a $10 swing in crude
price can change the company's annual earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization by $55 million to $60
million.

For details, see [ID:nBNG476217]

The stock gained 14 percent to $7.65.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
0945 ET 24June2009-Nike shares up ahead of release of results
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Shares of Nike Inc (NKE.N) rose on Wednesday, ahead of the
release of the sports apparel retailer's fourth-quarter
results.

For the quarter, the mean estimate of analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters is for earnings of 96 cents a share and revenue
of $4.72 billion. In the year-ago period, it posted earnings of
98 cents a share and revenue of $5.09 billion.

The stock rose 0.8 percent to $53.92.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net